Where Rents are Rising (and Where They're Not)

by Matt Hutchinson

Last summer, the number of apartment shares listed across the US was at an all time high. Lots of apartments were being listed, but demand fell off a cliff as Covid put the brakes on people moving. This summer was a different story altogether.

As restrictions began to ease, demand surged. But that coincided with a drop in supply and now people are struggling to find places to rent.

According to a survey of over 5,000 US renters in October 2021, 89% of people looking for a place to rent said they were struggling. When you narrow that to the major metro areas, the number increases. In Miami and New York, 97% of people said they were struggling. In LA and San Francisco/Bay Area it rose to 98% and San Diego reached 99%.

That means rents, which had flatlined or fallen in some major metro area during the pandemic (especially in New York, where rents fell by as much as 14%) started to creep up again.

In the third quarter of 2021, rent in New York rose by 1%. Not a huge leap, but, after the big falls in 2020 and early 2021, a significant one nonetheless.

These are the major metro areas where rents are on the up right now:

Raleigh up 21%
Riverside up 21%
Tampa up 18%
Miami up 14%
Charlotte up 12%
Orlando p 11%
San Antonio up 11%
Sacramento up 10%
San Diego up 9%
Phoenix up 9%

In fact, the only two major metro areas where rents fell were Chicago (-6%) and San Francisco/Bay area (-2%).

There's a definite north-south divide in terms of rents at the moment. What we don't yet know is exactly when supply and demand will start to rebalance, or whether things will return to the same levels as 2019.

What we do know is that there's never been a time quite like this in the US rental market!

If you need to find an apartment share right now, hit the big orange button to start your search.

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Image credit: Parrish Freeman